05/21/14 16:17
Consider the following two people:
The first is Bob. Bob was born into a middle-class family in a small town. Since high school, he has worked hard and excelled academically, winning a scholarship to a prominent medical school. After 10 long years, he graduated as a surgeon. Over the next 20 years, he would save thousands of lives. Bob is well compensated for his work and grueling hours. He has a net worth of over $20M, and has retired to a nice villa in Miami.
Bob happens to live next door to Fred. Unlike Bob, Fred never enjoyed school, preferring to spend his time collecting comic books, and pursuing his passion for keeping up with celebrity news. However, Fred was born with an extremely rare blood type that contains a compound used to create certain anti-viral drugs. It was discovered by accident during a routine checkup when Fred was 12. A major drug company immediately contacted Fred and his family, and set up a scheme where they would buy a pint of his blood every 3 months for over $100,000 per sample. Using Fred's blood, they have produced drugs that have saved the lives of thousands of people as well.
Through this set up, Fred has also amassed a fortune of $20M, but while spending his life reading celebrity gossip and sipping cocktails by the beach.
Here's the question to ponder: Do you think both Bob and Fred's compensation is fair? Why or why not?
Related: Society.